As a Baby Boomer, there have been so very many friends who have lost parents during this season…more than in years past. It seems like a new report comes each week…one friend lost both of her parents within a month of each other.

Time does heal the most painful part of loss like this…I am not sure I can speak for the mother and wife of one who has lost a son-husband, but I can speak as a daughter who has lost her father. It has been 6 years…he passed away just before the holiday season began. I can honestly say that though there is an occasional tear, the gut-wrenching pain has subsided, and mostly it is a memory, a smile, a peaceful feeling.

I write about loss during the Christmas and holiday season not to be depressing, but because it is real, yet it doesn’t change the meaning of the season. It just changes the expectations which we place on what we think the season should be.

May the God of all comfort bring peace and comfort to those who are hurting.

I’m an online shopper but this year, with a challenged economy and how it has challenged us financially, I’m going to try to rediscover my creative side, and see how we can save.

Thanksgiving holidays…yes, we have lots to be thankful for, there is no doubt about that, but it’s a deeper more meaningful kind of thanksgiving, not the kind that is thankful because we own this or that, but the kind that is thankful that someone in the family who is aging is still with you, the kind that remembers those that are no longer with you with thanksgiving for the part they have played in your life. There’s missing, the missing of those loved ones, missing children that may be overseas in the military, missing children that have married and moved out of the area. Everyone’s circumstances are different, so their approach to the season varies.

This was maybe not the best Thanksgiving I’ve ever had, not feeling well and various circumstances, but still, there are so many things to be thankful for, always…it’s a good exercise to take time to count your blessings, to count my blessings, especially if my mood isn’t lining up with the season as it should.

I’m thankful for you, my readers.

When this Baby Boomer got her first car, it HAD to have a working radio…the tires could have been bald, the finish not quite perfect, but the radio had to be perfect. I got my first car as we entered the year 1970, there was only a front speaker on the dash for the radio. My second car had front and back speakers. Then there were the cumbersome 8-Track players, then cassette tape players, and finally CD players…that’s what I still listen to in my car, but not my husband…read on.

The advances over the past 40 years have been amazing to watch, and now Dual Electronics has multiplied the “amazing-ness” almost beyond my understanding…but not quite.

My husband has the best iPod money can buy right now, sleek and attractive looking. But he has also purchased this very odd looking gadget he uses so that he can listen to it through his car radio…I mean really strange looking…I can’t quite describe it. But he still has to reach down and do all the adjusting directly on the iPod…hopefully at a stop and not while driving.

His experience would be much nicer if he had one of the new and attractive units that Duel Electronics offers for car entertainment, like the the XDMA7650, providing a front panel with a USB connection giving you easy access to controls for your iPod® and/or your iPhone®. Though sound quality is important, the feature I think I like best as I think of him out on the road trying to tune the iPod, is the wireless remote control, which I would imagine would be safer than looking down at a contraption plugged into a cigarette lighter like my husband is using right now. And here’s some “techie” info that I don’t really understand, but may impress you, it has 3.5mm auxiliary input & 3-RCA preamp outputs.

This is not all that you’ll find at the site, there are many other car entertainment units available to suit a variety of needs. Take a moment to take a look.

It is really a pleasure to be able to write about something that is close to home for me…literally and figuratively.  I have a brother who is disabled, or physically handicapped…unable to do things that you and I may take for granted.   In his case, it is more than just a physical condition, but for many who are simply unable to walk, or get in and out of a car or van, NMEDA has excellent, easy-to-use solutions for you.  I was so impressed looking at the vehicles and seeing what they were capable of doing…not all of them are alike, there are different solutions for different needs.   I looked at the drop-down menus under the categories along the top of the site, and visited a few links, and got the feeling that this was a very supportive organization.

The next thing that I wanted to know was whether or not there were dealers in New Jersey that provided these vehicles, and so put my zip code in, a relatively rural, out-of-the-way part of New Jersey.  I found 2 within a reasonable driving distance…1/2 – 1 hour away, in Fairfield, Saddle Brook; others in New York; and one near where I grew up before moving to this area, in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

If there are that many locations in my area, I’m sure you’ll find them in your area, too. Visit and check, and if you have a moment, let us know what your closest location is in a comment.

I will try to do better.  As I type this, I know my next post is going to have some pictures that need a little editing of the flooding that we experienced here in New Jersey over the weekend, just a few local shots, so off to do that, and I’ll be right back.

I leave with a promise to post at least weekly, if not more, I do maintain several blogs on topics that interest me or I’d be here daily!

There was an article written at examiner.com that made me think about our own experience purchasing glasses online…you can read the post about eyeglasses right here, written by a man who lived in Brooklyn, NY.

This was an honest review sharing how he was able to get glasses at a low price, was pleased with the glasses, and shared honestly why the glasses could be obtained at great discounts.

We have purchased glasses from the same source, and the prices are great…the fact that there aren’t designer frames, which there aren’t…but they are very fashionable, does not matter to us…in the present economy, getting glasses at somewhere between $8 and $50 dollars without insurance is amazing.

We did find that when we made our first purchase, we forgot to give proper measurements for the glasses, and had to send them back and get another pair, working out a fair arrangment with the seller. It’s important to provide your PD (pupilary distance) number…something you have to obtain from an optometrist.

You pick your frames and arrange everything online, it takes a couple weeks for your glasses to arrive by mail. For more information, you may want to stop by and take a look at holiday eyeglasses and then browse about the site and see for yourself what you can get for a great price.